Last week, I had the pleasure of leading a boat trip from Venice, Louisiana to the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area (PLWMA) located in southern Plaquemines Parish at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The request and sponsorship for this trip came from Ulrich Hahnloser from Zurich, Switzerland and Stanislav Macha from the Czech Republic, both …
Loggerhead Turtle. Photo courtesy of Ukanda. Last month, a group of volunteers, citizens and scientists made a surprising, and exciting discovery along the beach in Jackson County, Mississippi – a loggerhead sea turtle nest.Loggerhead turtles, a threatened species in the Gulf, grow to over 250 pounds in weight and up to three feet long. Although …
Bluefin tuna are incredible fish – the size of small trucks, swimming speeds of up to 50 mph, lifespans of 80 years – that are also incredibly threatened. Right now, there’s an unprecedented opportunity to help the beleaguered bluefin bounce back without overly burdening fishermen, and we need your help.The Gulf of Mexico had already …
On June 9th, I had the pleasure of leading another field monitoring trip by boat into Barataria Bay. This trip had been scheduled in advance by GRN staff to provide an opportunity for some of our major donors to accompany me on an excursion to gain some first-hand experience and insight into our field monitoring …
Louisiana’s modified coast. Photo GRN (cc)The past week or so has been an interesting and confusing time to be an advocate for Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts. Interesting, because there have been a number of different votes at the state and federal levels dealing with efforts to protect and restore our coast and communities. Confusing, because …
On a recent trip to Mississippi’s West Ship Island, GRN’s Raleigh Hoke and I, along with two volunteers started our day by talking to folks about the effort underway to open Mississippi territorial waters to oil and gas drilling. We were invited by former GRN board member and owner/operator of Ship Island Excursions, Louis Skrmetta, …
Over an hour of shrimping in Port Sulphur brings in little catch. GRN photo, May 15, 2012.A news report from Ben Raines at the Mobile Press Register details some simple science that shows big increases in biomass in Alambama’s coastal waters in the fall of 2011. A simple shrimp trawl survey that the Dauphin Island …
Murky Research* Alabama Biomass vs Barataria Catches Read More »
As our members and friends know, we have been working with our conservation partners to fight the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that causes algae to clog Florida’s rivers. Well, we were just informed about a massive, unprecedented bloom of thick green slime on the Santa Fe River near Gainesville. Just in time for the Memorial …
Citizens rally against Kemper at hearing in Gulfport, MS.Recently, Ashby Foote, a Jackson, Mississippi-based private money manager, joined a chorus of voices weighing in against the dirty, expensive and unnecessary Kemper coal plant by publishing an op-ed in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. In this op-ed, Foote deftly explains how Mississippi Power used inflated estimates of future …
Should important endangered species habitat be destroyed for better yachting?The SunWest/Pasco mega-channel permit application for a 4.86 mile long, 85 foot wide dredge channel cut through the seagrass of Fillman’s Bayou on the Nature Coast is currently being considered by Army Corps of Engineers. Your help is needed to protect the largest intact coastal ecosystem …